Need a degree? Try Walmart

As a former Walmart cashier, I know all too well how long the checkout lines can seem 15 minutes before you’re due to clock out.

For hours a day, these individuals at the front lines of the store monotonously repeat the same process of scanning and bagging with a courteous attitude. The reward at the end of the day is a check, which for some who support families can be meager at best.

The tale of a Walmart employee is one for poetry, I assure you. But I can also promise you that each cashier has aspirations and dreams of something better.

For a Walmart employee, these dreams are far off. Many times the demanding nature of families and work leave little time for self-improvement or resume building.

The astronomical costs of higher education also leave many poorer families without even the option to get a degree. These factors have made it painstakingly difficult for employees in the front lines to move upward on the social ladder.   

But it appears that the very institution that hires these busy individuals is attempting to help them. Walmart is now offering to cover 15 percent of an employee’s tuition with American Public University toward a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a variety of
academic fields.

In addition, the company is offering to help individuals who take classes related to their future at Walmart at local or online universities.

This presents a great opportunity for employees who might live check to check but who have dreamed of a life beyond the “Did you find everything OK today?”

A higher position in management or even a position at a corporate office could completely change their socioeconomic status, and the key to this upward mobility is a degree.

Not only will Walmart be helping its individual employees, but it will also be helping itself. By promoting classes and degrees related to retail, business or commerce, it can improve the quality of human capital available to the company. A smarter work force means a more productive one.

Walmart has been known to be a trend setter. As the world’s largest retail giant, it has set standards across the retail business from pricing to management organization. Perhaps this new employee initiative will set a standard for an industry not known for its academic support.

What a great day it will be when all retail employees will have the opportunity to take college classes and get a better education to perhaps recognize that far-off dream. For all of its benefits, we really hope that this program for Walmart employees proves successful.